Asia Sentinel
Party conflict hindering Agus’s ambition for power
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The ambition of Indonesia's former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to install one of his sons as the country’s leader and create a family dynasty has hit a major roadblock with the emergence of internal conflicts within the Democratic Party, which is controlled by the Yudhoyono family and hopes to install the 42-year-old Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono as a 2024 presidential candidate. Party members are criticizing SBY for managing the democrats as a "family party" and are planning leadership reforms to remove Agus from his position as party chairman.
The intraparty squabble is a disheartening comedown for the party, which though small dominated Indonesian politics through SBY’s decade-long reign as president from 2004 to 2014 although its later years were plagued with scandals including the indictment of the party treasurer, Muhammad Nazaruddin, for bribery, as well as the jailing of Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng for corruption involving the construction of an athletic training camp, and tycoon Siti Hartati Murdaya, a member of the party's Advisory Board, who was also jailed for corruption. Party chairman Anas Aurbaningrum was also jailed for corruption.